Balanced diode clamper circuit for low-frequency restoration



April 21, 1953 s. DOBA, JR 2,636,080

BALANCED DIODE CLAMPER CIRCUIT FOR Low-FRE UENCY RESTORATION Filed Jan. 26, 1949 OUTPUT A TTORNE Y Patented Apr. 21, 1953 BALANCED DIODE CLAMPER CIRCUIT FOR LOW-FREQUENCY RESTORATION Stephen Doba, J12, Whippany, N. J., assignor to Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application January 26, 1949, Serial No. 72,927

4 Claims.

This invention relates to the reinsertion of direct current and/or low frequency components of electrical signals, and particularly to the reinsertion of such components in television systems. Such circuits are frequently called clampers or clamper circuits. A clamper or clamper circuit can be defined as a device which measures the departure of a wave, during intervals in which the wave has a supposedly fixed amplitude, from said fixed amplitude and adds to the wave a signal which reduces this departure.

Various circuits have been proposed for the reinsertion of the direct current and/or low frequency components in television systems where the components have been suppressed during transmission as, for example, where they are suppressed by transformers or by alternating current amplifiers. Among the various proposed circuits are the so-oalled keyed circuits of the general type described in Patent 2,299,945 to K. R. Wendt, issued October 2'2, 1942. In the keyed circuit there is included an electron discharge device which is made conducting periodically (that is, it is keyed) by means of synchronizing pulses or the like to change the charge on a condenser in the grid circuit of the discharge device which is to have the reinserted direct current in its output. All of the circuits of this type depend for their operation upon a specific characteristic of the signal to be transmitted, namely, that at certain periodic intervals the signal assumes a fixed or datum value. A standard television video signal is one that has this characteristic inasmuch as the tips of the synchronizing pulses which are a part of the signal are originally all at the same voltage level. In the course of transmission, it may occur that the synchronizing pulses are displaced, one with, respect to the other, either by virtue of frequency distortion, such as would be caused by transformers, etc. in the transmission paths, or by the addition of extraneous signals or interference of unwanted signals. Then, as is well known in the art, these effects may be reduced by the periodic restoration of the datum levels of the signal to a fixed value. The signal so reconstituted will be the more completely free of the unwanted effects the more slowly the latter varies in time compared to the periodic restoration rate.

In the operation of pulse-operated low frequency restoring circuits such as that shown in the W endt patent, it has been discovered that distortion caused by the resistance and unbalance of the diodes used in clampers, and their driver circuits, s reduced by the appli at on of 2 negative feedback during the periods of the pulses. The present invention is based on this discovery and is in this way diiferent from the Wendt circuit and others now in common use.

It is an object of this invention to provide improved direct current and/or low frequency components reinserting correction apparatus and especially to provide improved reinserting apparatus of the keyed type.

It is another object of this invention to reduce distortion in the direct-current reinserting circuit of the "keyed type, and particularly those distortions caused by the resistance and unbalance of the electronic keying devices and their driver circuits.

In accordance with a specific illustrative em bodiment of the invention, the charge of a condenser in the grid circuit of a vacuum tube is controlled by means of two diodes which are keyed by periodically recurring pulses, such as synchronizing pulses. Upon the occurrence of a synchronizing or keying pulse, the diodes are rendered conducting and the condenser will discharge therethrough a certain amount, if its charge should be reduced to provide the correct direct current reinsertion, or it will charge a certain amount therethrough if its charge should be increased. Each diode is driven by a respective driver amplifier and, in accordance with the invention, the gains of the two amplifiers are made different in order to provide a negative feedback during the periods of the pulses, which has the effect of reducing distortion caused by the resistance and unbalance of the diode restorers and their driver circuits.

The invention will be more readily understood by referring to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof in which:

Figs. 1 and 2 are simplified schematic circuit diagrams to aid in the explanation of the background of the invention;

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a direct current reinsertion circuit in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 4 is a schematic circuit diagram to aid in the explanation of the invention; and

Fig. 5 shows a modification of a portion of the circuit of Fig. 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows a greatly simplified means for producing reinsertion of the direct-current and/or low frequency components into the signal from which theyhave been removed. In this figure, the input signal is applied to the grid of the vacuum tube VI by means of the coupling condenser It. The output or reconstituted signal is obtained from the anode of the tube VI as shown. The restoration of the datum values of the signal to a fixed value, zero with respect to ground in this case, is achieved by means of the switch S. The operation of the switch S is assumed to be such that it is open for all signal times except when the signal should be at its datum or refer-- ence value. At these times the switch is closed and the condenser it is shorted to' ground. The

size of the condenser I is assumed to be small enough, in terms of the impedance of-the' input source and the duration of the closure of the switch S, that condenser It will be fully charged to the value of the input voltage. It may be readily seen that for the interval immediately following the opening of the switch S, the potential oi the grid of the vacuum tube Vi must start from zero, or ground potential, in follow ing the input signal as-the latter varies;

A practical form of the switchS isshown in Fig. 2. In this figure, the condenser '55, the so-called clamping; condenser; is shown as a coupling condenser between the cathode of'tube V2 and the grid'of vacuumtube V I. The input signal is applied to th'e-gridof vacuum tube-V2 while the output signal is-available at the anode of vacuum tube VI. Thefunctions of the switch S are now performed by diodes" Ii and is in conjunction with resistances i3 andwi i, respec-v tively, and coupling condensers i5 and i.6',--re' spectively'. The keyingpulses' from the sources ii and I8 are applied respectively toithe'anode of diode I2 and to the cathode of diode is in such a polarity,;as shown in waveforms is and 26, respectively, as to'cause the diodes to conductonly for the-duration of these l;eying pulses. Condensers i5 and -I 8 will becomeichargednegae tively and positively, respectively, as indicated on the drawing, due to these conduction currents, so as to render diodes iI and iii nonconducting whenever the keying-pulses are not present. to provide a slow reduction in the charges on condensers I5 and It. The replenishing of these charges by diodes II and I2 thus assures that the latter will have relatively low impedances to ground for the duration of the keying pulses. It

is to be understood that the keying pulses from sources I! and I8 coincide in time with the datum or reference value of the-input signal; Hence, the clamping. condenser iii may be charged or discharge as required, through diodes II and I2, and. he operation of. the circuit of Fig. 2 is thus equivalent. to the. operation of the circuit of Fig. 1.

A disadvantage of the circuitof Fig. 2, however, resides in the fact that it is possible for the keying pulses from sources Hand iii to appear. at the grid of vacuum tube VI and hence also to appear in the output circuit thereon Although it has been claimed for somepricr The function of resistors i3 and is art circuit arrangements of this character that it is possible to balance out the keying pulses and thus prevent themfrom mixing with the out puts, as a practical matter it is not possibleto do so. Consider the requirements for such a balance. to be achieved. First, the keying pulses frornscurces I? and i8 must be of the same wave form, exactly equal in amplitude and opposite in polarity. Secondly, the diodes. I i and !2 must be, identical in all respects, including internal resistance and capacitance between anode and cathode. The relatively minor problem of bal- '4 ance between capacitance elements I5 and I5 and resistance elements i3 and It may be dis regarded.

To one versed in the art it will be recognized that these balance requirements in general are extremely difiicult to meet; Furthermore, it can be demonstrated that even though theoretically perfect balance were achieved, a practical balance is impossible. Consider the case when it is necessary fer clamping condenser I 0 to be charged or dis charged 'due to the presence of an unwanted signal at the input.- The flow of this charging, or discharging, current taking place through diodes II and i2 must result in an increase in current in one and a decrease in current in the other. Since in any diode the internal i1npedance is a function of the current flow, this inevitably results in the destruction of that balance whichis to be achieved. The net result is that even thougha theoretical balance of elements 'may be achieved, in practice such balance is illusoryn In accordance with the present invention, not only the effect of unbalancev in the critical elements but also the efiects of the unwanted input signal in destroying that balance are reduced by means of negative feedback- The signal correction circuit of the present invention is one in Which the keying circuit ismade to operate in a manner approachingthatof a metallic short circuiting switch.

Anembodiment of the present invention shown in Fig. 3, in connection with the circuit for the transmission .of. .a standard television video signal. The nomehclature is the same as inFig. 2 with theaddition of amplifiers 2i and 22supplying the keying pulses to diodes ii and !2, respectively, by means .of a feedback circuit from the cathode of the tube Vi. An input signal having the characteristics of a recur 1 or periodic .datumvalue, such as the telev video signal; is applied 'at the grid of vacuum tube V2. In this signal there may be-present low frequency distortion caused by inadequate transmission elements such as transformers, etc. and/or low frequency noise or interference signals, which are to be reduced or removed. Vacuum tube V2 is used as a cathode follower order to obtain a low impedance source for coupling the signal to the grid of vacuum tube V 5 through the clamping condenser It. The cut put signal is available at the anode of the vacuum tube VI. Connected to the juncture of the clamping condenser III and the grid of vacuum tube VI are the cathode of diode I! and the anode of diode I2. Applied to the anode of diodel I and to the cathode of diode I2 through capacitance elements I5 and IS, respectively, are amplifiedversion's of. the signal appearing at the grid of vacuum tube VI. If the polarity of the signal at the grid of the tube VI is as shown in wave form 23', with the synchronizing pulses positive, the polarity of signals applied to the anode of the diode II and to the cathode of the diode I2 is as shown by-waveforms 2 and age amplification of the amplifier 2! and this is in direct contrast with the-arrangement of certain circuits of the prior art. It .is the purpose of this excessive amplificationin amplifier 22 to provide a net negative feedback around a feedback loop which may be recognized existing from the grid of tube V I, to the cathode of this tube, through amplifiers 22 and 2% and diodes 2 and il back to the grid of tube Vi. The analysis of the operation of this feedback loop can be more readily accomplished by means of the diagram of Fig. 4.

In Fig. 4 the impedance of the cathode follower tube V2 and the capacitance of the clamping condenser Hi may be called a generalized impedance Z. The internal impedances of the diodes H and [2, including the effective output impedances of amplifiers 2| and 22, are replaced by resistance R. The effective amplification around the loop due to amplifiers 2| and 22 and tube VI is labeled ,u.. The input signal is designated E, while any voltage which appears because of unbalance in the diode is designated by e. It may be recognized that this is a perfectly general description of the circuit of Fig. 3. I

In Fig. 4 it may readily be shown that the output voltage E0 is given by the expression:

Two important effects due to the feedback may be recognized in this expression. The first is that the disturbing voltage e is reduced in magnitude by the factor (1+, and the second is that the effective internal impedance, R, of the keying circuit is also reduced by the factor (1 The importance of the first effect may be appreciated from the foregoing discussion. The importance of the latter effect may be recognized from What has already been mentioned as to the necessity of having the condenser [0 fully charged to the full value required by the unwanted signal in the time interval of the keying or synchronizing pulses. Inasmuch as the time interval is generally short and the effective internal resistance R is fairly large, it has been customary to make the capacitance of the condenser it very small in order to achieve this result. This small value of capacitance Ill has undesirable practical drawbacks because of the unavoidable leakage path, mainly between cathode and heater of diode H and grid and ground of tube VI. The effect of these leakage paths is to produce an undesirable saw-tooth voltage wave form across the condenser ID and hence in the output circuit. A feature of the present invention is a reduction in the effective internal impedance of the keying circuit and hence, a permissible increase in the size of capacitance of the condenser lil with the consequent reduction of the saw-tooth voltage due to leakage.

The relationship between the feedback (1+;r) in Fig. 4 and the circuit of Fig. 3 may be readily shown to be:

where m is the voltage amplification from grid to cathode of tube VI and n and 1.2 are the voltage amplifications of amplifiers 22 and 2|, respectively.

In the circuit of Fig. 3, the effects of unequal 6 keying pulses applied to the two diodes I l and H can be minimized by making the ratio of the resistors l3 and I4 approximately proportional to the ratio of amplification of the amplifiers 2| and 22. 1

Fig. 5 is a more detailed showing of a circuit arrangement which can be used in place of the arrangement schematically shown within the box 30 in Fig. 3. In the arrangement of Fig. 5, the connection 3| to the output side of the clamping condenser m corresponds to the like-numbered connection in Fig. 3, the triodes 32 and 33 (connected as diodes) correspond respectively to the diodes H and I2, while the double triodes V4 and V3 together replace the amplifiers 2| and 22 of Fig. 3. Tracing the connections in greater detail, the connection 34 from the cathode of the tube VI in Fig. 3 has a counterpart in the connection 34 in Fig. 5, this connection being traced through a resistor 35 to the control grid of the left-hand tube V3. The anode of the left-hand tube V3 (called V3A), is connected to a source of B supply through a resistor 36, while the cathode is connected to the cathode of tube V3B through a connection 31, these cathodes being jointly conthrough a condenser 42and to the grid of the tube V3B. The purpose of this latter connection is to apply a feedback voltage'to the grid of tube V3B to control the amount of difference in the signals applied to the grids of tubes V4A and V4B. The anodes of the tubes V4A and V4B are connected together and are directly connected to +B supply, while the. cathode of tube V4B is connected to ground through resistor 43. The cathodes of the tubes V4A and V4B are connected through the couplingcondensers l6 and [5 to the triodes '33 and 32, respectively. By varying the resistance ratio of resistors 40 and 4 l, the output signals of V4A and V43 can be proportioned to make a larger than 1.1 by any required amount.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. It will be obvious that numerous other arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a source of signal voltage of the type which has a first component with recurrent portions at a fixed potential and a second component comprising a low frequency wave caused by distortions or interference, an output circuit, means including a condenser for coupling said source to said output circuit, a pair of unidirectional conducting devices, means for connecting the output circuit side of said condenser to a point of fixed potential through two parallel circuits containing respectively said devices connected so that one is reversely poled with respect to the other, and an excitation circuit connected between said output circuit and said devices for causing said devices to conduct during the intervals when the first component of said signal has its portions at fixed potential, said circuit including amplifiers for furnishing 7 two voltages of" different-magnitudes? to said devices,respectively.

2. In: combination; aisource 'of' 'signal voltage of the type which has a first component with re-.

currentr portions ata fixed potential and a secondxcomponent' comprising a low frequency wave caused" by distortions or'interference; an'electron discharge device having "input and output cir-' cuits, means 'includinga condenser for :coupling said sourceto the input circuit of said electron discharge device, a pair of unidirectional conducting devices;means'for connecting the side of ing devices for causing said unidirectional devices to conduct during the intervals when the firstcomponent of said signal has its portionsat fixed: potential, said circuit including. amplifiers forfurnishin'g'two unequal voltages to said de' vices, respectively.

3. In combination, a source of signal voltage of the type which has a first component with recurrent portions' ata fixed'potential and a second component comprising. ta 10w frequency wave caused by distortionsior interference, an output circuit, means including a condenser for coupling said sourceuto said output circuit, a pair of unidirectionalconducting devices which may have unavoidable dissimilaritiesf therein, means for'connectingth'e output circuitsid of said condenser to a point of fixed potential through twoparallel" circuits'containing respectively said devices connected so that one'isreversely poled with respect' to the'otheryand an excitation circuit connected between said output. circuit and said unidirectional'devices for"causing said devices to conduct during the'intervals when the first component of said "signal has--its portions at fixed potential,.- said circuit including amplifiers for furnishing two unequal voltages to said devices, respectively, the relation between" said unequal voltages being-such that the resulting negative feedback through a loop including-the diodes corrects for distortion efiects caused'by said unavoidable dis'similarities in the diodes.

4. In combination, a source of signal voltage of the type which has a first component with recurrent portionsat a fixed potential and a second'component comprising a low frequency wave caused by distortions or'in'terference, an-outp'ut circuit, meanslincluding a condenser :for coupling said source to said output circuit, a pair of unidirectional conducting devices, means for connecting the output circuitside of said con-' denser to a point of fixed potential through two parallel circuits containing respectively said de-: vices connected so that one is reversely poled with respect to the other, andmeans .forv simultaneously exciting, from said output circuit, said devices to the conducting state during the intervals'when the first component of said signal has its port-ions at fixed potential, said last-mentioned means including means-for applying two unequal voltages tosaid devices, respectively,

comprising a pair of substantially equal tubes connected in substantially push-pull relation and each having input and output circuits, means for connectingsaid twolast-mentionedcutput circuits respectively to said unidirectional conducting devices,-a pairof driving tube each having input and output circuits for saidsubstantially equal tubes, means for connecting theoutput circuit coupled to said condenser to the input circuit of one of said pair of driving tubes, means for connecting the output circuit of'said one of said pair to the input circuit of said other of said pair, means for connecting the output circuits of said driving tubes to the input circuits respectively of said substantially equal-tubes, and means for feedingback'energy from theoutput circuit of one of said last-mentioned tubes-'tc'the input circuit of said other of said pair of tubes to provide control for the degree of unbalance of said two unequal voltages'appliedto said unidirectional conducting devices, respectively.

STEPHEN DOBA, JR.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES 'PATENTS Number Name Date 2,258,732 Blumlein et'al Oct. 14, 1941 2,286,450 White et a1. June 16, 1942' 2,299,945 Wendt Oct. 27, 1942 2,307,375 Blumleiniet a1; Jan. 5,1943 2,363,813 Somers Nov. 28,1944

OTHER REFERENCES RCA Review, March 1948, vol. IX, #1, pages 101-106. V 

